Chiles Focuses On Taxes Backers Urge Response To Martinez's Charges

THE GOVERNOR'S RACE

ST. PETERSBURG — Lawton Chiles moved Thursday to quell the fears of nervous supporters by counteracting Gov. Bob Martinez's charge that he plans to raise taxes.

Chiles shot back at Martinez during a senior citizens rally and aired a new television commercial that uses newspaper clippings to attack the governor's support for record tax increases.

The state Democratic Party chipped in a radio ad where Sandy Freedman, a Democrat and Martinez's successor as mayor of Tampa, calls the governor ''the Donald Trump of local government.'' The ad is being aired in Orlando, and the Democrats also plan to use it in Miami and Jacksonville.

Asked if he thinks Martinez has hurt him by charging he wants to raise taxes, Chiles said, ''I don't know. Everybody's worried about it.''

Chiles has called Martinez's tax charge a lie, but the governor renewed it during their televised debate Tuesday. Referring to the services tax, Martinez said, ''We repealed it and now you have promised to bring it back.''

Reporters frequently ask Chiles about the tax charges.

''We think we can move the state in a different way, and we think we can do it without raising taxes,'' he said in Tampa.

Steve Anderson, co-chair of Chiles' campaign in Tampa, said he is concerned that Martinez is hurting Chiles by hammering away on the tax issue.

''People are asking questions about it,'' he said. ''People are saying, 'Is he going to raise taxes?' ''

''I'd like to see him respond. I think he needs to.''

Chiles showed his wife, Rhea, a script for a television ad that responds more directly to Martinez's charges but would not show it to a reporter. He would not say when he plans to air the ad.

Chiles did respond when he spoke to about 200 senior citizens at a rally in downtown St. Petersburg.

''The facts are that Florida had the highest tax increase in the last four years that we've had in the history of this state,'' he said. ''The facts are that this is a governor who brought us the service tax and then said, 'Oh, my goodness, we don't want it.' ''

Chiles said Martinez presided over a $3.8 billion increase in state taxes and another $1 billion increase in school property taxes.

''That's the tax that hits people trying to live in their own house, make their own way, and that's the cruelest tax of all,'' he said.

The audience appeared receptive to his message.

''I think we have almost a holy cause in Chiles,'' said Audrey White, a Largo retiree. ''I haven't seen such grass-roots enthusiasm since the Kennedy years.''

Chiles addresses the tax issue in a new TV ad that uses quotes from newspaper editorials to say bad things about Martinez and good things about Chiles.

The ad begins with criticism of Martinez, quoting The Orlando Sentinel as saying, ''He led the charge for the biggest tax increase in our history.''

It switches to praise for Chiles, quoting the Pensacola News-Journal as saying, ''His name is synonymous with fiscal responsibility.''

In the radio ad, Freedman says Martinez quadrupled Tampa's bond debt when he was mayor and tried to triple the state's bond debt in 1988.

She calls the governor ''unfaithful and overextended'' and says ''Florida cannot afford four more years of Bob Martinez.''

Joining the damage-control mission was Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick, who attended a summit meeting in Tampa of the people who run successful programs that Chiles has visited during the campaign.

Frederick said Chiles' plan to decentralize the state bureaucracy and emphasize local delivery of services will allow him to make government work better without raising taxes.

''I'll take a polygraph on this one: Lawton Chiles and Buddy MacKay will deliver services more effectively than the present administration,'' Frederick said.